What Middle America Has To Say

November 19, 1985|By Lisanne Renner of the Sentinel Staff

Through the Epcot Poll, thousands of theme-park visitors express opinions on such subjects as politics, sports, entertainment and lifestyles. Questions change weekly, and some results gleaned from the survey audience during the past two years revealed these opinions:

-- Voluntary prayer in schools was favored by 63 percent of the survey audience, compared with 15 percent who preferred organized prayer and 16 percent who totally opposed school prayer. Six percent gave no opinion.

-- Movies contain too much sex and violence, said 56 percent of those polled. Another 16 percent complained of bad acting and writing, and 14 percent said that today's films are too similar. In a separate poll, the survey audience gave movie critics a lukewarm review. About half of the audience -- 49 percent -- reported rarely or never following a critic's advice, though the more education people had, the more attentive they were to reviews. Only 2 percent of those surveyed said they always select movies based on a critic's comments and another 28 percent said they sometimes choose movies based on a critic's remarks. Others -- 17 percent -- don't go to movies.

-- States should adopt mandatory seat-belt laws, said 64 percent of the survey audience, while 28 percent disapproved of such laws and another 8 percent gave no opinion. In a separate poll, 52 percent said they would always obey such a law.

-- Wives are considered bigger blabbermouths than husbands when it comes to keeping a secret. When survey-audience members were asked if their spouses could keep mum, 64 percent said yes, but sharp differences existed between the answers of men and women. Though 69 percent of the women said their husbands could keep a secret, only 59 percent of the men said the same about their wives.

-- In dual-career marriages, 41 percent of the husbands said they would probably or definitely accept a job transfer and promotion even if it hindered their wives' careers. Such a transfer would probably or definitely be turned down by 38 percent of the husbands. (An unusually high 21 percent gave no opinion.) Younger couples were likely to place more importance on the wife's career.

An average of 12,000 people respond to each Epcot Poll, though the number fluctuates along with attendance at the theme park. Walt Disney World conducts the poll with ASK Associates Inc., a market research firm in New York City.